Home Remodeling Expected to Spur Early 2011 Housing Growth

Growth in the housing market may be on the near horizon, but it might come from an unexpected area: Home remodeling. According to a new report from the Remodeling Futures Program at Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies, spending on home improvement projects may achieve double-digit growth by the first quarter of 2011. The planned improvements go beyond basic upgrades and energy-saving retrofitting to include complete remodeling and additions. The source of the surge in renovation spending likely comes from homeowners reticent to dip a toe into the still-turbulent real estate market, either to sell or to buy.